It’s been a disastrous August for Arsenal, a word even Arsene Wenger himself used after the game against Liverpool. But perhaps that just amplifies the Gunners’ current mood at the expense of the real perspective.

The present feeling certainly is one of crisis, reflecting the thought that the Gunners are the worst-off club in the current top six, and the most likely to drop out of it. That’s a tough concept to accept before the month of August is out. It’s usually after Christmas when the wheels come off Arsenal’s season, but this feels like a collapse much sooner into the campaign.

But it probably shouldn’t feel quite so bad.

For one thing, the Gunners haven’t necessarily had a bad window. It just feels like it. The biggest question was around whether or not they could keep their best players. Apart from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was played out of his favoured position and in the last year of his contract, they did. They also made two good signings in Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac to add to a squad which was already arguably the strongest in the club’s history.

Arsenal certainly have weaknesses in their squad - every team does this season - and they may lack leaders and grafters. But if there are problems at the club, they surely come from the manager and the boardroom. The stagnation seems to come from above, but the transfer business isn’t always to blame at the Emirates Stadium.

And so perhaps some perspective is needed.

If we forget about the fact that Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil seem to be letting their contracts run down; and if we forget about the problems that might bring for the pair’s morale and work rate; and if we also forget about the general issues it brings for squad cohesion, they are still undoubtedly wonderful players, and they are still also Arsenal players. The squad, on paper at any rate, is better with them in it.

Missing out on Thomas Lemar for a reported £92m could be a blessing in disguise for the Gunners, too, as such a hefty price tag was unlikely to be conducive to the young Frenchman’s development.

What that means, then, is that Arsenal aren’t in as dire straits as it might seem. Sure, the defence has looked shaky already this season and they were humiliated at Anfield, but there is still time to turn that around.

They have addressed a long-term problem and bought a striker - a good one, in Alexandre Lacazette, who scored after just a minute of his Premier League debut and again away to Stoke, only to see his strike chalked off for the most marginal of offside decisions.

They have added, in Sead Kolasinac, a player who looks stronger and more physically dominant than any defender Arsenal have had in years. And they have managed to keep hold of a world class player in Alexis Sanchez who, if he can replicate last season’s 24 Premier League goals, will be worth more than what an admirer might have paid for him this summer.

It’s understandable that Arsenal fans would feel as though their club has lost it already this season, but it’s likely that recent events have only served to amplify the depth of feeling. When the team starts winning again, that will change a little bit.

Whatever optimism comes over the next few weeks will be tempered because of the despair of the last few days. And whatever happens, Arsenal fans will not get too carried away this season because they have been burned so many times before.

But despite everything, there shouldn’t only be doom and gloom. When the dust settles, Arsenal’s squad won’t look so bad. The real problems are the same old ones they’ve suffered for years.

https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/arsenal-couldhavebeens.mp4